BOSQUE DE LA ESPERANZA ( FOREST OF HOPE ) / GIANCARLO MAZZANTI / BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

The 700m² installation is located in one of the highest parts of the city in order to be seen from all over the town. It is been designed to look like a dense forest’s canopy which can provides shelter from the sun but also can host a multi variety of any kind of activities such as acting, gathering, playing or even community’s meeting point, could take place during the day and that’s because the whole structure hovers over a concrete playing field.

 

The structure comprised of green prefabricated dodecahedrons with 12 surfaces each one of them which are wrapped with a steel mesh that offers a light and porous mode of shading. These are custom-fabricated and iterate numerous times to form the canopy. The structural canopy functions as a beam plane, supported over the two axes of the two columns. The materials used were expanded mesh, round metal pipe and translucent tile. The actual structure consists of 1.744m² horizontal surfaces and a 700m² domes of spatial structure which, as Mazzanti says “evokes a bunch of trees as a symbol of nature, union and hope in the area of Altos de Cazuca”. The dimensions of the canopy are approximately 22.7m x 33.6m with a perimeter of 138.198m.

 

As it is an open-air construction is very well ventilated and during the day the artificial lighting penetrates from the small mesh’s holes but also during the night and especially when the full moon appears the whole space below  glows naturally and suddenly becomes probably the most secure place to be at this time. This project stands out against the muted and monotonous background of the slum settlement.  But this amazing idea couldn’t be coming into life without the full economic support by the well-known pop-singer Shakira , her foundation “Pies Descalzos” and NGO Ayuda en Accion. The important philanthropic gensture must inspire more and more pop, acting and sports stars to give back something to the people which are responsible for their wealthy lives.